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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23446210">It's Getting Harder to Breathe</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/NorthernBlueLemonade/pseuds/KickstartAsylum'>KickstartAsylum (NorthernBlueLemonade)</a>, <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/NorthernBlueLemonade/pseuds/PitiedBowl'>PitiedBowl (NorthernBlueLemonade)</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Fallout 4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Codsworth has a nickname and it is Cody, I put a half hour into finding the perfect name, Modded Game, Movie References, Not Canon Compliant, Not completely new to combat start, So Marcelina's nickname is Mary now, The air is irradiated, Theme song: It's Getting Harder to Breathe by Maroon 5, and a nickname that Codsworth would recognize, but you'll have to face god, find them all, fleshed out playable characters, just to remember there is already a Marcy, meme references, you fuckers let me get ten chapters in spelling it Sean instead of Shaun, you may escape my wrath</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-04-02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-07-19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 05:53:51</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>9,739</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23446210</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/NorthernBlueLemonade/pseuds/KickstartAsylum, https://archiveofourown.org/users/NorthernBlueLemonade/pseuds/PitiedBowl</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Modded game, so fair warning. Also creative licence. Lots of that.<br/>Marcelina Penn Temple. Wife in a Lavender Marriage, Mother. And now she adds Widow, and Sole Survivor. She refuses to add Vilomah. She had known the war was coming ever closer to their home in Sanctuary Hills, but this... this was unacceptable.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>7</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It started, as most horrible things do, with a normal morning. And then it was not.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>They killed Nate. They took Sean. These were simple truths. One more simple truth; she was going to hunt down every soul involved, and kill them. The re-encroaching frost touched nothing of her rage.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Out. She needed to get out. She barely let herself catch her breath before she pushed to her feet. Nate's pod loomed before her. </p><p>"Nate..." She lurched forward, slamming into the control panel next to it. His pod opened. He might have been in the military, not her, but they'd spent enough time in the back yard shooting tin cans and paper targets that she knew there would have been no saving him even if she'd gotten out when it happened. Grief and rage closed her throat with an iron fist as she slowly removed his wedding band. She would come back to bury him. But for now, she needed to get to the surface.</p><p>She stumbled through empty halls and hydraulic doors until she came across the largest roaches she had ever seen. She would have laughed if she hadn't been busy crushing them underfoot.</p><p>And then she came across the first skeleton.</p><p>"What..." No time to worry about the long dead. She could do that once she was out. Through the next hall was a room with a lab-coat wearing skeleton sprawled in a tipped back chair, a gun and ammo, and a working terminal. She picked up the gun first, looking back at the skeleton. Had he... shot himself? Why? She picked up the skull gingerly, and seeing no holes on either side, turned it over. A jagged, gaping hole greeted her, as did a fire-dent in the wall when she looked up. He had. She was gripped with the sudden need to know why. She couldn't think of any SNAFU that would call for such an act. She set the skull on the desk and opened the terminal.</p><p>She skimmed the text. He had been the Overseer then. She accessed the logs.</p><p>"Cryogenic pods, of course." It was clear, now. They really had been too shook to notice. And then a mutiny. Damn. She didn't envy the position he had been in. Let them starve to death, or let them die of radiation. What the hell had Vault-Tec been playing at? She shook her head and opened the evacuation tunnel.</p><p>The exit, finally. And a Pip-Boy, that would be useful. She was so close... She glanced around, and as a last second decision, grabbed the gas mask that had fallen off the skeleton. It couldn't hurt. The press of a button, and the massive, gear-shaped door opened. She was free.</p><hr/><p>Codsworth was in the yard.</p><p>"Miss Mary! I was just tending the garden!"</p><p>"Codsworth," She hesitated. "What happened?"</p><p>"Not much, I'm afraid. Things will be much more exciting now you're back. Where are Mr. Temple and the young sir, by the by?"</p><p>"They... they killed him, Cody!" Nate had been the only of the two to give Codsworth a nickname, but in the moment, there was far too little of Nate in the world. "They killed him and they took Sean!" She wrapped her arms around herself.</p><p>"That's impossible, Miss Mary, nothing could kill Sir. Perhaps they're merely hiding, from the Red Menace!"</p><p>"Codsworth, no. I saw-" He cut her off.</p><p>"Let's go look for them in the neighborhood!" He took off, and she shook her head, moving inside and making her way to what had been their room. She sat on the bed, no, <strike>their bed</strike> <em>her</em> bed now, head in her hands. She wasn't sure how long it had been before the tell-tale sounds of Codsworth's return disturbed her.</p><p>"They... They're really gone, aren't they?"</p><p>"Yeah." She heaved a sigh. Just like that, everything had been taken away. </p><p>"You can't give up, mum! What about the city? There are survivors in Concord!" Concord, where they had meant to go, for Nate's speech. </p><p>"It's a start. Thanks Codsworth."</p><p>"You'll find him, Miss Mary. I know you will." She looked out the window.</p><p>"I think I'll leave now, still plenty of time left in the day." She hauled herself to her feet. Perhaps she had clothes left unravaged. She needed out of this damned vault suit. She found her glasses on the dresser, and laughed bitterly when the only salvageable clothes in the house were Nate's, left in the dryer that morning.</p><p>She passed the old Red Rocket station - honestly, what had they been thinking, a name like that - when a clang grabbed her attention. Gun already pulled, she turned. Just a dog.</p><p>"Hey, bud." She waved, thinking that would be the end of it. Instead, he bounded over, tongue lolling and tail wagging. He skidded to a stop at her feet.</p><p>"Shouldn't be out here alone, you know. Those giant roaches might get you." He tilted his head, and she shrugged, stepping away. He followed.</p><p>"Alright, stay close then." And they were off. At the edge of Concord, they found mosquitoes, every bit as over sized as the roaches. Easily dealt with.</p><p>"Disgusting."</p><p>Further into the city, she heard the shoot out before she saw it. She wasn't sure who was who, but when she kicked a rock skidding and they started shooting at her, she returned the favor. She could almost hear Nate.</p><p>"Dodge, dip, duck, dive, dodge." If she laughed when the last shooter on the ground fell, it was only because dodging balls shouldn't have helped her end a shootout.</p><p>"Hey, Up here, on the balcony!" She glanced up. "We've got a group of settlers inside, and the raiders are almost at the door! Help us, please!" With that, the man ducked back inside, and rolled her shoulders, reloading her gun. She didn't like the sound of raiders.</p><p>"Let's go bud." The dog padded at her side through the door.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Chapter 4</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>And into chaos. It didn't take long to make it to 'the door' the man had been talking about, and she was more impressed that the exhibits still worked. The two "raiders" at the door were yelling about something, but she dropped them before it registered. The door swung open.</p><p>"Man, I don't know who you are, but I'm glad you're here. Preston Garvey, Commonwealth Minutemen." Straight to the point, alright.</p><p>"Marcelina Temple, call me Mary." She shook his hand. "I was glad to help."</p><p>"Well, if that's true, we could use a little more good will. We're in a bit of a mess here."</p><p>"I can tell." She wasn't sure she liked the sound of this but in for a penny in for a pound. Or twenty, at this point.</p><p>"We figured Concord would be a safe place to settle, but the raiders proved us wrong. Sturges?" The man at the terminal turned to face the,=m.</p><p>"There's a vertibird up on the roof. Got a full sound of cherry, T-45 Power Armor."</p><p>"I like the sound of that." </p><p>"Hell yeah, take the suit, you can rip the minigun right off the vertibird. Do that, and the raiders get a one way ticket to hell. Just one problem- suit's outta power."</p><p>"The fusion core we need is downstairs, locked behind a gate." Preston shook his head, and Sturges shrugged.</p><p>"I fix things, I don't break code. Not my forte."</p><p>"I'll see what I can do." She hadn't been the talent behind her senior year's prank for her good looks.</p><p>"Good luck." She waved them off, already moving.</p><hr/><p>The code was easy- the password had been the building's name. Next stop, the roof. Sturges had exaggerated, the T-45 wasn't cherry at all, rust covering nearly every visible inch.</p><p>"Fuckin' mint." She muttered, slotting in the fusion core and crawling inside. The helm's display flickered to life, and she took a moment to take stock. Rads, battery, and a hail of gunfire told her the rest didn't matter. Minigun. Drive off the raiders. She could do that. So she did. She gunned down the little man yelling in the street first. The rest, she couldn't aim, they were too far down the street and in buildings. She paused. Hadn't Nate said...? She stepped off the roof into the empty air, ignoring Preston's shout of alarm. State of the art suspension, she barely felt the landing. </p><p>"Minigun!" She grinned. Fat lot of good that warning would do them now. Halfway down the street, she started firing. Three quarters down, something giant and monstrous clawed its way out of the ground. She didn't stop. Four feet from her, it did. </p><p>Back at the Museum door, she climbed out of the power armor, and headed inside.</p><p>She gently shut the doors, turned around, and took a deep breath.</p><p>"What fresh <em>fucking</em> hell what that?!"</p><p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Chapter 5</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>How she'd been roped in to helping a settlement, she wasn't sure, but she needed to bury Nate and their neighbors first. Preston had offered to help, but... she felt this was something she needed to do alone. And that was how, just as the sun peeked over the hills the next morning, he found her. Sat amidst several filled in graves, arms braced on her knees, watching the sky change.</p><p>"A new day, another problem." She greeted him, and he have a wry laugh. </p><p>"Sometimes it seems that way."</p><p>"Don't worry, I'm heading out soon."</p><p>"Take your time. I can't imagine they actually expect our help, to be honest." She stood anyway. "Hey, take Dogmeat with you. He's decent company on the road."</p><p>"<em>That's</em> his name?" He laughed at her expression.</p><p>"Mama Murphy'll have to tell you the story sometime. It's a good one." She shook her head.</p><p>"If you say so. I'll be back eventually." He waved her off, and she made her way back down into the subdivision, and to <strike>their</strike> her house.</p><p>"Miss Mary! Welcome back, mum. I see you found people in Concord." </p><p>"They've had a bit of a rough run of it. They'll make good neighbors though."</p><p>"Can't have enough of those these days." He hesitated, and she tilted her head, waiting. "I realize I'm no Mr. Gutsy, but if needed, I'd be honored to accompany you throughout the Commonwealth. Just say the word!" She laughed.</p><p>"I appreciate it, Codsworth, but if I took you with me, who would teach these folks the rules here?"</p><p>"Ah, quite right. Very well then, the world awaits your attention, and we await your return." With that, he left the house, presumably to educate on lawn care or some such. She packed herself what little food was left edible in the house, as well as the other change of clothes from the dryer, and called it good. Bag slung over her shoulder, She called Dogmeat from <strike>Sean's</strike> the other room, and meaninglessly shut the front door behind them. </p><p>It was maybe a half hour walk before she saw what her Pip-Boy was telling her was the settlement, though her wide arc around bits of the woods that glowed green, and later, a pack of doglike animals, added a minute or two.</p><p>She put away her gun as she neared, glancing around. A decent garden and a still standing shack, although the floor of another was bared to the world. The cocking of a gun behind her grabbed her attention. She put her hands up.</p><p>"Hey now-"</p><p>"What do you want? We don't need any more trouble around here." </p><p>"Didn't you ask the Minutemen for help?" She really didn't have the patience for this. They wanted to aim a gun at everyone that came through, they clearly could take care of themselves.</p><p>""You're with the Minutemen?" He walked around to face her, gun down. "Didn't think you fellas still existed. We sent word with one of the travelling traders, but honestly I never expected anything to come of it. Most people don't put much stock in it these days, not after Quincy. Bad bit of business, that." He shook his head, and she put a hand on her hip.</p><p>"Do you want my help or should I just be on my way?"</p><p>"Don't get the wrong idea, I'm damn glad you're here. There's a Raider band that's been giving us trouble for weeks. Stealing food and supplies, threatening to kill us all if we don't pony up." He shook his head, frustrated. "We know where they're coming from, the Corvega Assembly Plant, but we can't go up against a gang like that."</p><p>"I'll take care of them."</p><p>"Thanks, if you folks are for real this time, it'll be a change for the better." He turned, intent on the garden, and she pulled up the map her Pip-Boy had. Pretty far for a group to harass just for food. She shook her head. </p><p>"C'mon bud."</p><hr/><p>What the hell. She stops for two seconds to ask about the news, and she gets a door to door salesman. Idly, she wondered how the Vault-Tec guy was. Probably dead.</p><p>"Good day, stranger. You look like someone who would appreciate the utility of a good suit of armor."</p><p>"You just wander around, selling armor to random people?"</p><p>"Travelling's a good way to meet new people. As well as finding the lost, broken, and unusual. When I get tired of travelling, I settle down for a while. But I'm in the wandering phase at the moment."</p><p>"Tell me, what even goes for currency these days? I can't imagine there's much paper money left."</p><p>"Paper money? That hasn't been used since-"</p><p>"Since the bombs fell, yes."</p><p>"Are you saying-"</p><p>"Are you going to keep asking stupid questions?" He laughed.</p><p>"Bottle caps, though the odd collector here and there will take coins." She shook her head.</p><p>"My husband hoarded those, swore they'd be worth something in the future. Guess he was right."</p><p>"Not the way he imagined, I suspect. If you don't mind me asking, how are you still...?"</p><p>"We lived near a vault... When the bombs fell, we were too shocked to realize we were being loaded into cryo pods. They malfunctioned yesterday." He opened his mouth. "I was the only one still alive. Something had gone wrong with the other pods, just skeletons." He didn't need to know the whole story.</p><p>"I'm sorry, that couldn't have been easy." He slung his massive pack to the ground, and pulled out a square, cloth wrapped bundle.</p><p>"Tell you what, take this. I have a feeling I'll be seeing you again. All I ask is you tell me what the world was like before." He handed it to her, and she took it.</p><p>"I think I can manage that." He nodded.</p><p>"Until our paths cross again."</p><p>"Until then." And he was off, pack on his back as if it weight almost nothing, and she stuck the package in her bag. She could see what it was later. Shoving the experience to the back of her mind, she readjusted her map and started off, Dogmeat at her side.</p><hr/><p>Her clothes were ruined. She had bigger problems, like the fact that she was bleeding from where a bullet grazed her, in an old factory full of rust surrounded by dead bodies, but she also knew she couldn't exactly wander the wasteland half naked either. Most of her shirt had gone into a patch the size of her forearm, nearly soaked through, and the rest had been torn to make a long enough strap to tie it into place just below her ribs. Bless her mother's poor cooking, and her own, or it would have been a lot worse. She needed more care than what she'd managed. grimacing, she brought up her map. Tenpine's wouldn't have the resources, as small as it was, and Sanctuary Hills was too far. The nearest marker she had was Diamond City. She'd have to thank Sturges for loading up what coordinates he'd had on one of his chips while they'd been at the museum. She removed a harness from the nearest raider and rifled their pockets. A heavy sack of caps, and more ammo. She was glad the harness had a waist strap to support the strip of shirt. She'd be covered somewhat, too, with the band that crossed her chest wider than her bra. She worried idly at being mistaken for a raider from a distance, but she really didn't have the luxury of anything else. </p><p>The city was quiet, and if she slipped past guards in baseball uniforms and giant bugs a little too easily, well, she wouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth. Dogmeat was silent, as if he could tell now was not the time to play. There was someone at the massive door, but she couldn't find it in herself to care. She was too dizzy, and at this point the walls were beginning to look like friendly sources of support. She stepped around the corner, one hand braced against the wall and the other against her blood soaked side. </p><p>"Well, aren't you far from home." The sound of a gun being drawn, but a vision-swimming glance told her it was <em>probably </em>pointed at the ground still.</p><p>"A bit, yeah. Small time settlement's don't usually have a hospital's capabilities though." She was slurring. Not good. Dogmeat whined at her side, and she hushed him. A moment. Two.</p><p>"Ah hell, anyone that travels with a dog can't be all bad." Relief rushed through her, and then she fell.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Chapter 6</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The first thing she became aware of was warm fur underhand, and when she flexed experimentally, it barked.</p><p>"Dogmeat, not so loud." She groaned, sitting up. Or at least she tried to. A hand pressed into her shoulder, pushing her down.</p><p>"Easy, you'll tear your stitches." She opened her eyes. She was on a couch in the dingiest basement she'd ever seen. Dogmeat was sitting next to her, watching.</p><p>"Where's my bag? I'm sure you want your caps."</p><p>"Under the couch, by your head. Most people try to avoid that after a surprise visit." She dragged the bag out, digging around. She hadn't packed very much... She handed him the bag, sitting up much slower. He handed it back much lighter, and she put it away. </p><p>"I just want to go home." She turned her head to the sound of footsteps on stairs, and saw the woman from before coming down.</p><p>"Gave Doctor Sun here a real scare, Blue."</p><p>"...Blue?" </p><p>"You're from a vault, aren't you? Your accent and Pip-Boy were dead giveaways."</p><p>"I guess they would be." Doctor Sun shook his head.</p><p>"I don't recommend going 'home' unless it's somewhere here in Diamond City. that bullet took a bigger chunk out of you than you probably realize."</p><p>"I can't just float around waiting for it to heal."</p><p>"I believe that's where I come in. Might've told Danny, and McDonough, that you were from a settlement, up here as a favor to me. I've got some errands to run, and I might be out a few weeks. Normally Nick checks in on Nat, but he's out and I really can't wait for him to get back."</p><p>"And I hear Pastor Clements is looking for someone to take over night shifts for a while over at the Chapel."</p><p>”Hang on. How long do I have to sit pretty before I can start getting back to what I need to be doing?”</p><p>”I’d prefer two weeks, maybe three on the safe side.”</p><p>”And how long until I can actually start moving around?” Doctor Sun huffed a laugh, shaking his head. </p><p>”A week, if you don’t mind heavy scarring. But really-“</p><p>”I can manage a week.”</p><p>”I want you back every day so I can see how it’s healing.”</p><p>”Reasonable.”</p><p>”Here, Blue, I’ll walk you to the Chapel.” Piper shoved off of the post she’d been leaning against, and held out a hand to help Marcelina up. She took it, wincing at the way the stitches pulled in her skin. After farewells with Sun, the stairs were just as unkind, although the leveled ground of the ancient baseball field was much nicer. In the open air, she realized it hadn’t been the basement that reeked of blood, but her. She glanced down and winced; the entire outside of her left pant leg was soaked, a deep stain in the denim she’d likely never get out.</p><p>”I should probably clean up before I actually do anything, yuck.” </p><p>”If that’s what you want. This way.” Piper led her to a narrow, two-level building with a stand next to it, boasting a sign that read "Publick Occurrences." Inside was a small living space, with a bit of the back end of the room blocked off with cinder blocks and stairs to the second level.</p><p>"Upstairs, sometimes we get people tramping through here, and those blocks weren't stacked for an adult's modesty." Piper gave her a gentle nudge, then turned to said bricks. "Hey Nat, be a doll and bother Sheng for a bucket's worth."</p><p>"Why do you always send me?" A young girl, maybe ten, and every bit Piper's sister if Mary was a betting woman, stepped out from behind, as Mary made her way up the stairs slowly.</p><p>"Because he'll give it to you free if you bat your eyes at him." An irritated sigh, and then the sound of the door opening and shutting. Before long, the sound of Nat's return brought her back to focus. Piper brought up a bucket full of water and a rag. "Soap's by the ammo box, do you need anything else?"</p><p>"No, thank you though." She leaned against the wall, setting her bag on the ground, and Piper turned to leave, boots thudding on the stairs. Once she was alone, she set about peeling away her clothes.</p><hr/><p>When she'd finished, she laid out what clothes she had left. She could wear Nate's clothes, or she could see what the strange man had given her. Her curiosity won out, and she nearly laughed when saw just how many pockets there were. Thankfully the set came in layers, and she could wear the dark orange, long sleeved shirt without the harness full of pockets over top. The pants, however, there was no escaping. Dressed, pants tucked into her boots, and Pip-Boy latched over her left sleeve, she made her way downstairs.</p><p>"Better?" Came Piper's voice, and Mary looked towards the printer. </p><p>"Much."</p><p>"Feel up to the chapel? It's just across the road."</p><p>"Sure." </p><p>The chapel was only one room, with benches against the walls and a small podium, where a man was leaning over a small book.</p><p>"Pastor Clements! I-"</p><p>"Hush, Piper, you'll disturb them." He gestured to the two people sitting, heads bowed. One had looked up when they entered, but soon enough went back to his contemplation.</p><p>"I've found the answer to your night shift problem, for a little bit anyways. Pastor Clements, meet... I never caught your name, actually." The pastor gave Piper a long suffering expression, though there was no real heat behind it.</p><p>"Marcelina. Most call me Mary." He shook her hand. "What exactly is the night shift here?"</p><p>"Just a bit of cleaning, giving people advice when they ask. It's quiet, and I keep it up well enough, but I'm not quite over the last illness that swept through."</p><p>"That's a shame." She gave as sympathetic a look as she could, with her mask covering the bottom half of her face, but he seemed to get it.</p><p>"I was about to lock up, but if you're willing to start tonight, I can leave these folks in your hands."</p><p>"I can do that." She turned to Piper, who was already talking.</p><p>"I'll go put Nat to bed, and in the morning I'll stop by before I leave." She was out the door before Mary could respond.</p><p>"Always in a rush, that one." Pastor Clements shook his head. "I'll be back to set you free in the morning." He joked, before leaving himself. Quiet fell over the room, and that was really how it stayed the whole night.</p><hr/><p>And the night after that. </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Chapter 7</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The night before Piper returned, a new woman stepped into the chapel. Mary had gotten familiar with the night time regulars over the last week and a half, but she'd yet to meet this one. Brown hair curled just above her shoulders, and worry dogged her eyes. Mary's quiet greeting startled the woman.</p><p>"Oh, is Pastor Clements still not feeling well?"</p><p>"I'm afraid not. Is there some way I can help?"</p><p>"I... Nick's gone missing, and I'm worried." Missing people wasn't what people often brought, but she knew the feeling.</p><p>"How long has he been missing?"</p><p>"Almost a week now. He was working a case, a missing girl, and he hasn't come back yet. He's been gone a long time before, but he always sends a messenger. There's been no word."</p><p>"Couldn't it be that the messenger this time got lost?"</p><p>"That's what I was hoping, but the security haven't seen anything outside the wall."</p><p>"I'm gearing up to head that way once Piper is back, I could keep an eye out for this Nick."</p><p>"Oh, would you? He said he was headed to a vault, one-fourteen I believe. You can't miss him, he always wears a fedora." She clung to Mary's hands, and Mary nodded. "Thank you, if you do see him, tell him Ellie said to hurry home." With that, she left, and Mary turned to scanning her map. It had every vault listed, at least she assumed every.</p><hr/><p>Piper swept in with Pastor Clements the next morning, and Mary stood from the couch she'd been curled up on most of the night.</p><p>"Piper, good to see you back."</p><p>"It's good to be back! You'll have to tell me all the news." Piper dragged her out of the chapel before she could say anything to Clements, and directly to the noodle stand. Thirty-two caps later -she'd have to see what the exchange rate was like- she was eating some damn good noodles, and telling Piper what she could. </p><p>"And apparently someone named Nick is missing. I told-"</p><p>"Nicky's missing? What'd he get himself into now?" Piper  set her bowl down, full attention on Mary.</p><p>"A missing person case, something about a vault. I told his girl-" she tapped her ring against the metal of the table, and Piper laughed.</p><p>"Ellie's not Nicky's 'girl,' Blue. She's his secretary."</p><p>"Oh. Well, I told her I'd head out that way once you got back."</p><p>"You've got dust for a brain if you think I'm not gonna go with you." Piper hurried to finish her bowl, and stood.</p><p>"I'm ready when ever you are." Mary nodded, and turned to leave when a gleam in the corner of her eye caught her attention. She turned to look. A metal chain, like a necklace, laid on a cloth-covered table. The shop sign above read Diamond City Surplus. She approached the woman still setting out other wares.</p><p>"You? I don't know you. Keep your distance."</p><p>"I'm just interested in that chain, relax."</p><p>"That's exactly what a synth would say." Synth? "But... I don't know, <em>are </em>you human?" What kind of...</p><p>"As human as you."</p><p>"Regardless, I'll keep my eye on you." Mary shook her head. </p><p>"I just want the chain, how much do you want for it?" The woman eyed her for a moment.</p><p>"Forty caps." Mary glanced at what laid on the table.</p><p>"I'll give you sixty if you throw in those two boxes of ten mil."</p><p>"Seventy."</p><p>"Deal." Caps exchanged hands, and the ammo was safely tucked away in her bag. The chain, she pulled out Nate's ring and threaded it through, hooking one end of the chain through the other into a knot and looping the free end over her head, letting the ring settle just above her heart. Now it wouldn't get lost in the pocket shuffle every time she changed clothes. She turned back to Piper, left hand still grasping Nate's ring to center it.</p><p>"Blue, that was the worst trade in the history of- oh."</p><p>"We should get going."</p><p>"Sure." Outside the city walls, Mary brought up her map. </p><p>"This way." She started walking, Piper a few steps behind. She pulled her gun, just in case. When they passed a tower and shots rang out, narrowly missing, she was glad. </p><p>"Supermutants!" Came Piper's warning from behind a concrete pillar as Mary dove behind an old car.</p><p>"Super <em>whats</em>?!" Her question was unnecessary when she saw the giant green things shooting.</p><p>"Puny humans!" It took three shots to down the last one, and Mary slowly came out of cover.</p><p>"Ha! Another human, come to rescue Rex!" A voice came over an intercom, and they rushed to the bottom floor, taking cover from the higher levels.</p><p>"What on earth is going on?" </p><p>"I don't know Blue, but if these guys have someone hostage..."</p><p>"We can't just leave, yeah." </p><p>"Up the stairs?"</p><p>"Up the stairs." They made their way cautiously, Mary taking the stairs backwards to aim at the landing above them in case there was an ambush waiting. There was nothing except a single working elevator. Mary wasn't sure of its abilities, but Piper stepped in as if it were brand new, so Mary followed. </p><p>"You killed the weakest of us! It only makes us stronger!" Came the voice on the intercom again. "If they cannot kill one puny human, they are less than nothing!"</p><p>"Mouthy, ain't he?" Mary muttered, rolling her eyes. Piper laughed, and they stepped out onto the landing. More of the supermutants, but now that the surprise had worn off, her hands weren't shaking and they dropped like flies on their way to the second elevator.</p><p>The supermutants were thicker up here, and it was all she could do to drop one before it seemed two more took its place. Finally, there was quiet.</p><p>"Over here!" She whipped around. There was a man in a cage, with a supermutant.</p><p>"What the hell are you doing in there?"</p><p>"There's little time! Get us out!"</p><p>"The supermutant too?" Piper scoffed.</p><p>"He's harmless." Mary looked at the man as if he'd grown a second head, but eventually shrugged, kneeling down with a bobby pin. She'd have to thank Nate for all the trouble he'd gotten them into in their younger years, the lock deftly picked as easily as if it kept their grade files, and not a mutant.</p><p>"To the lift, now!" As the lift lowered, more supermutants came charging, weapons blazing, and while Mary was sure she heard the man reciting something familiar, she ignored it in favor of clean shots. It was going to be a long way down.</p><p>At the bottom of the tower, finally, Mary took a second to talk to who she assumed was Rex.</p><p>"Thanks for the timely rescue."</p><p>"Oh, no worries, rescuing idiots is my favorite thing to do." She deadpanned, adjusting her mask.</p><p>"I suppose that barb was justified. In any event, I'm quite grateful. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll be away from this dreadful place." He turned and walked away, the supermutant following. She and Piper were left in silence.</p><p>"What a day, Blue."</p><p>"And it's not even noon."</p>
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<a name="section0008"><h2>8. Chapter 8</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"Blue, we're walking right into Boston Common, people don't come back from here."</p><p>"It's just on the other side, don't worry." Park Street Station was indeed on the other side of the murky, filthy water. Inside would be the vault. They made it around the common with little trouble, and ducked inside quickly. Down a broken escalator and into a room with four... somethings. It didn't matter, one drew their gun and she fired. One, two, down. One, two, down. Headshot, down. One, two, down.</p><p>"For someone out of a vault, you aim well."</p><p>"I didn't always live in a vault. In fact, I didn't spend much time in one. Awake, at least."</p><p>"There's a story behind that, I can tell."</p><p>"It's not a nice one."</p><p>"That's what whiskey is for." Mary laughed, and swiped the bus tokens off the counter. Who knew if they'd need them later, it seemed a coin toss decided what worked and what didn't.</p><p>Moving down the stairs carefully, she scoped the tunnel. Five. She ducked behind a nuka-cola machine, firing. Four. Moving behind a pillar, one ran in front of another, dashing for cover just as she fired, and they both fell. Two. One peeked out from his cover. One, two, down. One. Piper got the last one from behind a bench. Making their way down the tunnel, they cleared each segment, pockets growing heavier with caps and sellable goodies until they stood before the vault door.</p><p>"Now how are we gonna get this thing open?" Piper stood, hands on her hips. Mary just pulled the plug from her Pip-Boy and slotted it into place, hitting the button. The noise of the door opening seemed to startle Piper.</p><p>"Damn doors are so loud." Mary muttered. "Be glad there's no elevator in this one. Damn things 'bout leave you deaf."</p><p>There was no stealth here, and they went in, guns blazing until what looked like a dead end room, a man yelling at a window. Fedora, but no trench coat. Not 'Nick', so she shot.</p><p>"I don't know who you are, but we got three minutes before they realize he's not coming back. Get this door open." The terminal said it was the Overseer's office. She wondered how they'd managed to make it lock from the outside as she hacked it. The door slid open.</p><p>"Gotta love the irony of the reverse damsel-in-distress scenario. Question is, why did our heroine risk life and limb for an old private eye?"</p><p>"I hear you deal in missing people. And I promised Ellie I'd send you home."</p><p>"Yeah, turns out the runaway girl I came to find wasn't kidnapped. She's Skinny Malone's new flame, and she's got a mean streak a mile wide. Let's blow this joint, and then we can see if I can help." He took off, and they followed.</p><p>"An old vault was the perfect place for these-" He started, but Mary scoffed.</p><p>"Ain't nothing perfect about <em>anything</em> Vault-Tec touched." He gave her a look over his shoulder.</p><p>"I suppose not." It was quiet until a fritzed door. Nick hacked it, and they were on their way again, Mary firing with more abandon than she normally would; she was getting sick of all these people trying to fucking kill her.</p><p>"Skinny Malone and his men won't be too far. The name's ironic, but don't let that fool you. He's dangerous."</p><p>"I'll play nice if he does." </p><p>"Nicky, what're you doing? You come into my house, shoot up my people, you have any idea how much this is going to set me back?" Mary cocked her hip, gun pointed at the floor.</p><p>"Actually, that would be me. You understand people get upset when their detective doesn't come home." She gave him the most fed up look she could, and with the tension bunching her muscles and the resting bitch face she was blessed with, she knew he was getting the mean-mug of a lifetime. He looked it too, grip shifting on his own gun.</p><p>"I wouldn't be here if it weren't for your two-timin' dame here, Skinny. She should write home more often."</p><p>"Aww, poor little Valentine, ashamed you got beat up by a girl? I'll just run back home to daddy, shall I?" Darla's voice grated against Mary's ears, and she rolled her shoulders.</p><p>"Should have left it alone, Nicky. This ain't the old neighborhood. In this vault, I'm king of the castle, you hear me? And I ain't letting some private dick shut us down now that I finally got something good running for me!"</p><p>"I told you you should have killed him, but then you had to get all sentimental! All that crap about the 'old times!'"</p><p>"Darla, I'm handling this!" Darla ignored him, turning to Nick.</p><p>"Admit it Nicky, you brought her to wipe us all out!" Mary stepped in front of Nick, sick of the situation.</p><p>"Darla. Look at yourself. Simping after a man that won't even listen to you. Could you be the baddest bitch of the east coast? Probably, given enough time. But you won't find it here, I can tell you that."</p><p>"Oh, and you know everything there is, I'm sure." Her dismissive tone was too much, and Mary marched forward, stopping inches from Darla's face.</p><p>"I was there when the bombs fell, little girl. I watched humanity as it was <em>die</em>. I have very little left, so do <em>not</em> test me." The first flit of fear crossed Darla's face, and Mary softened her voice. "Go. You have a home. You have parents that care for you. That's more than most have, and more than Malone can give you."</p><p>"I- you're right, I've gotten all mixed up, haven't I?" She stepped back, and Mary let her.</p><p>"Darla? Where are you going?"</p><p>"Home, Skinny, where I should have stayed. This is it for us." With that, she turned and left, while Malone gaped.</p><p>"You've cost me my girl, Nicky!"</p><p>"My friend here did you a favor, Darla was no good for you." Mary turned to Malone.</p><p>"Nick only came to find her, not start trouble. Let us go."</p><p>"You... fine! You got to the count of ten. I see you still I shoot. Ten!" He started counting, and when she saw Nick and Piper head for the exit, she followed. What a fucking day. She looked at her Pip-Boy. 11:57 AM. Fuck.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. Chapter 9</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Sunlight warmed half her face as they stepped outside, and she took a moment to enjoy it.</p><p>"Now, you mentioned a missing person?" She turned to Nick. "I want you to meet me at my office in the city, you can give Ellie and I the details."</p><p>"Can it wait until tomorrow? I've had it to here with today." She gestured as far above her head as she could reach.</p><p>"It's not even noon, Blue." Piper was trying not to laugh, but Mary wasn't having it.</p><p>"You might be used to being used for target practice but I'm <em>not</em>. I have been faced with life forms completely unheard of in my time and that vault did <em>wonders </em>for reminding me of my dead <em>fucking </em>husband every step! Yes, Sean is missing, but we are so far past the first forty-eight hours that at this point, I'm looking for my baby's dead body. So sorry if you don't understand why I'd want to put that off." she turned and left, at a walk so brisk that when she reached the commons, she nearly tripped over a body. She would have kept going, but her foot had dislodged a letter from his hand. She picked it up, reading.</p><p>"...'whatever you do, don't go into the Common.' Yeah, should've followed that advice, idiot." She muttered, continuing on. </p><p>Inside the Dugout, Mary sighed, making a beeline for the one corner that was shadowed, sitting on the couch long ways and letting her bag hit the ground hard. If Vadim sent Scarlett over rather quickly, well, she'd spent plenty of caps here already.</p><p>"Long day, Mary?"</p><p>"You have no idea."</p><hr/><p>Several beers into her attempt at a stupor, a hand swatted her boots off the couch.</p><p>"Move, Blue, its rude to take the whole couch." She moved, bringing her knees to her chest, and Piper sat facing her.</p><p>"Piper, I'm sorry I snapped like that."</p><p>"Hey, no, I get it. I didn't realize what all you're dealing with." A moment of quiet, and Mary finished her bottle and set it on the table. Scarlett raised an eyebrow at her from across the room, and she held up two fingers. Seeing Scarlett nod, she turned back to Piper.</p><p>"I appreciate you going after Nicky, too few folks can be bothered to do good." Piper heaved a sigh as Scarlett brought their drinks and left. "I mean, look at Diamond City. I've been trying to warn these folks of real danger. But every issue I publish, all I hear is 'Oh Piper, why don't you ever publish anything happy? Why can't you write something nice for a change?' It's enough to make me wanna hang up the hat some days."</p><p>"I can't blame them for wanting to escape. The world was bad before, but as long as I didn't watch the TV, none of it seemed real."</p><p>"Sure, yeah, it can be scary, knowing what's really out there." Piper gestured with her bottle. "A night doesn't go by I'm not afraid some Institute drone'll decide today's the day to pay 'ol Piper and family a visit. But it's worth it. Because the truth protects us." Piper paused, and Mary waited.</p><p>"I've seen firsthand what the truth can do. My sister and I, we grew up way out in the Commonwealth. Tiny little settlement. Our dad was part of the local militia. One day, he turned up dead. Asshole of a captain, Mayburn, he said Raiders must've gotten him. Didn't believe him for a second. Started asking around, turns out he thought he wasn't getting paid enough, he sold out. He was gonna let Raiders sack the place in turn for a cut."</p><p>"Your dad found out, I take it?"</p><p>"Yeah. Mayburn got to him before he could turn him in. I wasn't about to let that bastard get away with murder. Mayor wouldn't hear a word of it, so I papered the entire town, "Wanted for Gross Dereliction of Duty, Captain Mayburn." The Mayor sure wanted to talk after that. Whole town threw Mayburn out on his ass and were dug in when the raiders finally showed."</p><p>"Good for them." Mary sighed. "I'm sorry about your dad."</p><p>"Thanks. It was hard after he was gone, but knowing that he died doing right, makes it easier." Piper shook her head, and silence took over as they drank the evening away.</p>
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<a name="section0010"><h2>10. Chapter 10</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>She stood in front of the door, Piper just a step away. She hesitated for just a second, hand on the handle, but pushed forward, stepping into the building.</p><p>"Oh, it's you!" Ellie jumped up from behind a desk, rushing around. "Nick told me everything!" Mary frowned. Everything? Yesterday hadn't exactly been her shining moment.</p><p>"You saved Nick, this agency, and my job. Thank you." Mary shuffled uncomfortably.</p><p>"It was nothing, really. I could do something about it so I did."</p><p>"Oh, go diving into scary, pre-war ruins all the time then, do you?"</p><p>"You... could say that." Ellie shook her head, picking up a bag from the desk.</p><p>"Here, I know an amount wasn't on the table, but you deserve a reward." She paused. "You know, if you're looking for work, Nick sure could use another partner-"</p><p>"One case at a time, Ellie. Our friend here needs our help first." Nick's voice called from behind as he came in the door. "Let's get down to business, take a seat." He moved around the desk and sat opposite of the chair at her side. She sat. Ellie stood just behind him, clipboard in hand.</p><p>"When you're trying to find someone, the devil's in the details. Tell me everything you can."</p><p>"Where to start... The vault. Vault one-eleven." She sighed, putting her head in her hands. "The bomb fell, and the shock wave rushed right over our heads as the elevator went down, I remember that. We were all in disbelief, when they told us the pods were for decontamination, not even Nate noticed what they really were. We were frozen, it was a cryo facility."</p><p>"You were underground, sealed up. That's a lot of obstacles for just one person." She nodded.</p><p>"Something overrode the commands, I guess, because I saw... they shot Nate, he wouldn't give them Shaun. That's who we're looking for. He's just under a year old. Why anyone would take a baby..." She shook her head.</p><p>"An infant needs quite a bit of care, and someone would have to take that on. This wasn't by happenstance, there was a plan." Mary jerked her head up. </p><p>"Yes! The one, he called me 'the backup' just before they left! He came right up to my pod, bald, scar across his left eye." Nick pinned her with a sharp stare.</p><p>"Did you hear a name?"</p><p>"No, I didn't." Nick frowned, turning to Ellie.</p><p>"What notes do we have about the Kellogg case?"</p><p>"The description matches. Reputation for mercenary work, but no one knows who his employer is. He had a house here."</p><p>"And a kid, didn't he?"</p><p>"Yeah, about ten years old."</p><p>"Is he still in town?" Mary glanced between the two.</p><p>"They skipped town a while back, but the house is still here. Let's take a walk over, see what we find." They stood, and Ellie gripped her clipboard tight.</p><p>"Security doesn't usually run that way, but be careful." Mary nodded, and she and Piper followed Nick outside.</p><p>The early morning light struggled to filter into the alley.</p><p>"I didn't want Ellie to hear this, but you should know everything I dug up on Kellogg since he left is all bad news. He has no enemies, because they're all dead."</p><p>"Except me."</p><p>"Except you." The rest of the short walk was silent. Nick dropped to a crouch at the door, and Mary turned her back, watching the walkway.</p><p>"No luck, we'll need the key."</p><p>"Geneva should have it," Piper spoke up. "If anyone can charm it out of her, it's you, Blue."</p><p>"You go do that, and I'll stay here and see if I can get the lock."</p><hr/><p>All it had took was a wobbly voice and a few words about Shaun and the key was in her hand. She stood in the center.</p><p>"If I was a crazy mother fucker," Mary murmured, and Piper laughed. "Where would I hide shit?"</p><p>"The last place anyone would look." Piper supplied helpfully, and Mary pointed at her.</p><p>"The ceiling. Think about it, when's the last time you looked up? Does this place have roof access?" She was already bounding up the stairs, but halfway up she could see there was no doorway. Instead, level with her eyes, a wire. "Well, hello. Where do you lead?"</p><p>"Find something, Blue?" Mary ignored her in favor of inspecting where the wire disappeared into the beam in the stairs. She moved to the bottom, lifting up the rubber mat. Wire. It led under the desk to a button. Against her better judgment, she pressed it. A panel slid open on the far wall. </p><p>"James Bond mother fucker." She ignored the odd looks they gave her and stepped inside, taking in the room's state.</p><p>"Man loves his vices," She huffed in detached amusement, picking up an emptied bottle of Gwinnet Stout. "What is it with men and beer, anyways?"</p><p>"I wish I knew, Blue." Piper laughed. "Hey, maybe we could give Dogmeat the scent, if he loves that stuff so much. He'd reek of these, too." She held up a cigar. San Francisco Sunlights. Mary wrinkled her nose against the instinctive memories. Her father had loved the things.</p><p>"That's an idea. Some dogs out there in the commonwealth can track a man for miles." Nick gestured vaguely.</p><p>"I'll do that, then." She picked up a bottle, and shoved two of the spent cigars inside.</p><p>"Before you head out... I know this is personal business. If you have to face Kellogg on your own, just say so." Mary hesitated, eyes staring but not seeing as she thought it over. Her hand drifted to Nate's ring, hanging from her neck.</p><p>"This... yes, this is something I need to do myself."</p><p>"Alright then. I expect to see you safe and sound when you get back, alright? You need help, you come knocking."</p><p>"Of course, Nick." He ducked out of the house, and Piper spoke up.</p><p>"Do you want me to go home too, then?"</p><p>"Yes, please. I..."</p><p>"Hey, don't worry. Do what you gotta do. Nat's almost done with school today anyways." They made their separate ways at Kellogg's front door, and Mary brought Dogmeat outside Diamond City's main gate. She held the bottle out to him.</p><p>"Sic 'im, boy." Something was going to end today, she could feel it, and she prayed it would be her search.</p>
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<a name="section0011"><h2>11. Chapter 11</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Dogmeat gave the bottle a sniff, huffed, and took off at a pace she had to jog to keep. It wasn't long before she had to call him back, wheezing, hands braced on her knees. </p>
<p>"Slower, boy, we'll still get him." He whined, but she set a walking pace, and he kept a few paces ahead. They headed directly out of the city into the Fens, and Dogmeat started barking, dancing around someone's irradiated-pondside spot. She picked up another San Francisco Sunlight, and held it out to Dogmeat. </p>
<p>"What do you think, enough to go on?" He barked, and they were off again, down the center of some train tracks. Her mother's warning about flattened pennies and derailed trains played in her mind, when they had both been much younger. She shook herself mentally. Now, in the wilds, was not a good time to lose focus. The afternoon light filtered weakly through what dead trees were there, and she frowned. They'd have to camp out somewhere for the night. Dogmeat veered off the tracks, into a concrete structure, and down a flight of stairs. As soon as she stepped out onto the road, she saw what Dogmeat had found- bloody rags. He lead her out on the other side, back to the train tracks, and then into another stair filled building that came out on a tunnel. At one end it opened to a view of an old highway, broken down from time, and a seat and table, with, surprise surprise, Gwinett Stout. </p>
<p>"Let's go." He took off again, weaving around debris on a bridge, and out onto a road. A bright yellow light in the distance distracted her, and it was only Dogmeat's warning bark before something threw itself where she had just been that saved her. She fired, watching it fall for a moment before turning to the others that were rising from the ground far too fast to be anything natural. It set her on edge, and her marks began to waver, taking four or five shots to down them instead of just the two tap Nate had taught her. Finally they were alone, and she was left with crawling skin and chills up and down her back. If she never saw another again it'd be too soon. They made their way to the yellow light. A robot, nearly completely destroyed, reciting errors. Dogmeat carried on, and Mary followed reluctantly. They made a turn, not far down the road, and then off into the trees, up a steep hill. They carefully climbed where a fence had fallen, rusted metal everywhere. She idly wondered if her last tetanus shot still worked, after cryo. On the other side, they veered into the edge of a city, to the front doors of what used to be Fort Hagen. Dogmeat scratched at the cinderblocks boarding the doors and gave a howl.</p>
<p>"Is this it, then?" He barked, and she glanced around. The sun was setting. "Let's find somewhere to sleep." Just across the road, what used to be a restaurant sat, with a partially collapsed ceiling, and a flight of stairs leading up to an open space, in the sense that half the walls were missing. But there was shelter, in one corner, and she sat against the wall. Dogmeat laid down, leaning on her, and she fell into some semblance of sleep.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>She woke the next morning, if it could be called that in the grey, pre-dawn light, with a sore neck and stiff muscles. She accidentally jostled Dogmeat when she stood, and he whined, stretching. </p>
<p>"Good idea." She set about easing the stiffness from herself, and she was sure if anyone could see her, they'd wonder why she was bent so strangely, but it was early enough she was sure that no one would be on the roads just yet. She rummaged through her bag, making sure the bandages were on top, that her gun was loaded, and that she had extra ammo. "Ready boy?" She gestured down the stairs, and he shot over to Fort Hagen, at the front door before she was on the first floor. </p>
<p>The front door was no good, blocked as it was. But there was a stairset that led around back, to where scaffolding led up onto the first level ceiling. To the right, another ramp led to the top, and a bridgepiece later she found cellar doors leading into the building. </p>
<p>"It's our lucky day, boy, they're unlocked." She climbed down the stairs into an old storage room, Dogmeat just behind her. She cleared each room slowly, shoving anything useful -or nostalgic, like the paper money- in her bag. A clearly-not-human voice was her only warning. </p>
<p>"The Institute has ord-" She fired, and sparks flew as they fell. A turret met the same fate, and when she saw a flicker out of her eye, so did another synth. Down the stairs was just as full, and she took special care to rummage through the rooms after. </p>
<p>"Awful fancy motherboard. Maybe someone'll pay for it." She showed it to Dogmeat and when he huffed and turned away, she laughed and stuck it in her now rather full bag. She found a working elevator, and called Dogmeat over.</p>
<p>"Going down."</p>
<p>As soon as the doors opened, a synth walked past the end of a redlit hallway, and she fired right as it noticed her. It dropped, and silence fell, save for her and Dogmeat's footsteps as she moved forwards. </p>
<p>"Oh, isn't it my old friend, the frozen TV dinner. Last time we met, you were cozying up to the peas and apple cobbler." Distorted as it was by the PA system, she still recognized the voice.</p>
<p>"Dammit Kellogg! Where's my baby?" She yelled, as if he could hear her. At the end of the hall, stairs led down to a security gate. More stairs, and another gate. How original.</p>
<p>"Sorry your house has been a wreck for two hundred years, but I don't need a roommate. Leave."</p>
<p>"Fuck you!" She kicked the double doors open. They opened onto a command room of some sort, with a winding hall.</p>
<p>"Huh, never expected you to come knocking on my door. Gave you fifty-fifty odds you'd make it to Diamond City. After that? Figured the Commonwealth would chew you up." She muttered under her breath about miscalculating threats and pushed on, hall after hall.</p>
<p>"Look. You're pissed off. I get it, I do. But whatever you hope to accomplish here? It's not going to go your way."</p>
<p>"You don't understand a thing!" She was going to lose her voice if she kept yelling like he could hear her, but she needed some way to vent the anxiety taking hold. She turned left, down some stairs, dropping synths as they came in her sights. Finally the hallway split, one way lit in red, the other in blue. She turned to Dogmeat. </p>
<p>"Which way do you think bud?" He strode into the red hallway and she followed.</p>
<p>"You've got guts, and determination, and that's admirable. But you are in over your head in ways you can't possibly comprehend."</p>
<p>"Keep talking, see where it gets you!" She hissed between her teeth.</p>
<p>"It's not too late. Turn around. Leave. You have that option. Not a lot of people can say that." She'd almost spat a response, until she realized just how similar a conversation she'd had with Darla. Maybe he had a point, but she couldn't leave Shaun to whatever fate had in store. The hallway turned back on itself, and then again, ending in an office.</p>
<p>She opened the door that stood between two flags, and crossed the room. She hesitated, hand on the door.</p>
<p>"Okay, you made it. I'm just up ahead. My synths are standing down. Let's talk." She shook her head, moving forward. She stepped into what looked like an office, full of cubicles. Kellogg stepped out from behind one. </p>
<p>"There she is, the most resilient woman of the Commonwealth. You came a long way. Let's hear it." She stopped six feet away. </p>
<p>"I want Shaun."</p>
<p>"Lady-"</p>
<p>"My <em>name</em> is Marcelina."</p>
<p>"Marcelina. Look, I'm a puppet just like you, my stage is just a little bigger, that's all." He paused in thought. "Shaun's a good kid. So maybe he's not a baby anymore. But he's doing great. Only, he's not here. He's with the people pulling the strings."</p>
<p>"Then you'll get me there. One way or another." She stepped closer. </p>
<p>"Even If I could, which I can't, he's in a place no one can get to. He's safe with the Institute."</p>
<p>"What do you mean, can't get to? He had to get there!" Kellogg shook his head, subtly pulling his gun. She still noticed, and cocked hers.</p>
<p>"You don't find the Institute, the Institute finds you. But I think we've been talking long enough. We both know how this has to end. Are you ready?"</p>
<p>"Do we?"</p>
<p>"What?"</p>
<p>"I-" Her shoulders slumped, as if the full weight of the situation had come down on her with crushing force in that moment. "You killed Nate. That's not something to forget. But if you say Shaun is still alive..."</p>
<p>"He is."</p>
<p>"I can't imagine you hold much care for the institute, if they've orchestrated this." She gestured between them, both with ready weapons.</p>
<p>"Where are you going with this?"</p>
<p>"Help me get Shaun back from the institute."</p>
<p>"Haven't you been paying attention? There is no way in!" She held up her unarmed hand. "There is a way, or they wouldn't be able to operate. Help me get Shaun back, and when it's all said and done, we can have our little western showdown, if you still want."</p>
<p>"And what's keeping you from shooting me in the back the second I turn it?"</p>
<p>"My word." He sighed and shook his head. "You've done quite a bit of wrong, here's a chance to start fixing that."</p>
<p>"Might as well see where this goes." As he made his way towards the outside world, she wondered if she'd come to regret this. She didn't know.</p>
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